PUTRAJAYA – The Health Ministry (MoH) is concerned about the possibility of family gatherings taking place at shopping complexes during the Aidilfitri celebrations this year, as these activities could trigger a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said that gatherings at shopping malls, due to restrictions on visiting homes during Syawal, is very risky.
He said Covid-19 cases in the country have increased dramatically over the last two weeks, and involves many religious centres and focal points, where clusters could be triggered.
Dr Adham said this in a virtual joint press conference on the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme with its coordinating minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, today.
Dr Adham said that the presence aggressive Covid-19 variants, already in the community, requires continuous efforts to curb the risk of transmission, and he urged people to continue adhering to standard operating procedures (SOPs), including maintaining physical distancing and wearing masks.
He added that sporadic cases have increased compared with cluster cases, with 89% of Covid-19 cases reported from April 9 to May 8 this year being sporadic cases.
Dr Adham also said that close-contact detection activities are important, and the ability to implement them varies depending on the districts, for example, in Terengganu, all close contacts can be detected within 48 hours.
The capability depends on several factors, including manpower resources to investigate and track down contacts, mobilisation of staff from other areas and the use of mobile phones to facilitate communication between positive cases and district health offices, he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Adham said that the capacity of the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) at the Malaysia Agriculture Exposition Park, Serdang (MAEPS) can be increased to 10,000 patients.
He added that the MAEPS PKRC can currently accommodate almost 4,000 patients in categories one and two, while 1,000 beds can be placed for category three cases to reduce stress in public and private hospitals. Previously, category three patients were admitted to government or private hospitals.
Efforts to increase bed capacity in hospitals and intensive care units (ICUs) are also being actively carried out in the Klang Valley, especially at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Teaching Hospital and Universiti Putra Malaysia Teaching Hospital, apart from building modular ICUs in several places, he said. – Bernama, May 17, 2021
